Methane leakage can erase the climate benefits of wastewater biogas recovery
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 22131371 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Xiatong Li (0009-0005-2775-6849, Princeton University), Jun‐Jie Zhu (0000-0002-8201-1285, Princeton University), Jun-jie Zhu (0000-0002-6914-5596), Yuqing Yan (0000-0001-6403-8620, Princeton University), Trung Le (0009-0002-6286-4122, Brown and Caldwell (United States)), Zhiyong Jason Ren (0000-0001-7606-0331, Princeton University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Publication date | 2026-04-27 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Nature Sustainability (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2398-9629 • E-ISSN: 2398-9629 |
| Publisher | Springer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1038/s41893-026-01805-y |
| OpenAlex | W7156141509 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 4 |
Wastewater utilities use anaerobic digestion and biogas utilization to reduce energy costs and emissions, but methane leakage can undermine both the climate benefits and project economics of these systems, especially as power grids decarbonize. Safeguarding climate integrity will require performance-based methane policies that pair robust monitoring with enforceable leakage thresholds and targeted leak detection and repair
Anaerobic digestion · Biogas · Leak detection · Methane · Renewable energy · Safeguarding · Wastewater · Anaerobic Digestion and Biogas Production · Atmospheric and Environmental Gas Dynamics · Landfill Environmental Impact Studies
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |